Watch Jungle Gold

Discovery's successful "Gold Rush" series is set in Alaska, but when they made a trip in 2011 to South America looking for gold, it opened up the door for a whole new category of reality TV shows centered on gold mining. "Jungle Gold" premiered in 2012 and it centers around the story of two men who travel to Ghana to try and make their fortune.

Scott Lomu and George Wright are real estate investors from Salt Lake City who went bust in 2008 during the worst of the nation's economic problems. Desperate to turn things around, they decide to try gold mining in the rough-and-tumble African country of Ghana. The country is experiencing a massive gold rush but it's also a country that is struggling to properly police the claims and the miners. The country is overrun with Chinese miners who jump claims and begin digging where they want, aided by corrupt local officials and a lot of weapons.

Lomu and Wright ran into this problem with their original claim, which had been illegally mined by a Chinese gang. In the early episodes of the season they struggled to find a new claim and even after they procured the land they had problems retrieving the gold.

The typical way gold is found in Ghana is by using a method outlawed in a lot of countries. Miners use mercury to burn away some of the sediment as they run water through pails of dirt. It's a quick, easy and cheap way to separate the gold from the other minerals on the claim. But it's also messy, bad for the environment and can be very dangerous for the workers. As the season progresses, Lomu and Wright decide to use the mercury method but that decision has some serious consequences for the health of their local work crew. By the end of the season they have retrieved gold, but is it enough to save their houses back home?

Jungle Gold Full Episode Guide

Season 2 (6 full episodes)

Episode 6 - Run for the Border

2 years ago

Scott and George are all set to mine their Fahiakobo gold claim. But an attack by armed militia on a neighboring site forces them, along with the entire production crew, to make a dangerous emergency evacuation.

Episode 5 - Wild Ride

2 years ago

The production crew captures the untold story behind the making of Jungle Gold including hostile confrontations, underground explosions, accidents in the jungle and torrential storms.

Episode 4 - Mad Scramble

2 years ago

Scott and George reunite in Ghana and must find a way to wash gold. Their mining partner Dave Thomas bails them out with an expensive solution but has an unforeseen motive.

Episode 3 - Run & Gun

2 years ago

Scott and George face huge challenges on opposite sides of the world. George is forced to risk his life in a dangerous gold deal and Scott must decide if he will ever return to Ghana.